I Have No Plan To Step Down: Zuckerberg

Menlo Park: Despite mounting pressure from investors to step down as Facebook chairman as the social media firm faces intense scrutiny on data scandals, Mark Zuckerberg has said he has no plans to retire.

In an interview with CNN late on Tuesday, he said this was not the time for him to quit as Facebook shares ended at $132.43 — down 40 per cent from its peak in July.
“That’s not the plan. I’m not going to be doing this forever, but I’m not currently thinking that makes sense,” said the Facebook CEO.

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The interview came after the New York Times reported how Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg “ignored warning signs” of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and hired a Republican-owned political consulting and PR firm to “dig up dirt” on competitors.

“I do run the company. I am responsible for everything that happens here. I don’t think this point was about a specific PR firm; it’s about how we act,” Zuckerberg said during the interview.

The Times report also suggested that Facebook knew about Russian influence activities on its platform as early as spring 2016. Facebook hired a firm called Definers Public Affairs to retaliate against or spread inflammatory information about its critics. Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s outgoing Head of Public Policy, has reportedly taken the blame for hiring the Definers.

In the interview, Zuckerberg said there’s no doubt that “we missed something really important” when it came to the Russian interference during the 2016 US election. Last week, Facebook investors increased pressure on Zuckerberg to step down as Chairman.